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Polar Bear Plunge to support Mont Alto THON group

Franklin County Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association, Mont Alto Alumni Society to host fundraiser to fight pediatric cancer

The 2018-19 Penn State Mont Alto THON group.

Image: Donna Rhodes

Polar Bear Plunge to support Mont Alto THON group

November 27, 2018

MONT ALTO, Pa. — On Dec. 2, the Franklin County Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association and the Mont Alto Alumni Society will host a Polar Bear Plunge in support of the Penn State Mont Alto THON group (Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, affectionately referred to as THON). The event will begin at noon at the Cowans Gap Lake Beach area, located at 6235 Aughwick Road in Ft. Loudon. All funds raised will benefit Four Diamonds to fight pediatric cancer.

Registration to participate is $12 per person and includes a free promotional T-shirt. Participants are encouraged to secure at least $100 in sponsorship. Prizes will be awarded to top fundraisers.

Plunging begins in small group waves at 1 p.m. Waivers must be signed in advance of plunging — a quick submersion. Safety personnel will be on site during the plunge.

About 15,780 children in the United States under the age of 19 will be diagnosed with cancer this year, according to the Four Diamonds website. In addition, about 1,250 children younger than 15 years old are expected to die from cancer this year. Because of major treatment advances in recent decades, more than 80 percent of children with cancer now survive five years or more — an improvement since the mid-1970s, when the five-year survival rate was less than 60 percent.

In 1977, THON, now the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, partnered with Four Diamonds at Penn State Children’s Hospital and designated the fund as the sole beneficiary of its fundraising efforts. Over the past 41 years, donations to THON have resulted in more than $150 million to fight pediatric cancer.